A Refuge for All Seasons by Brother Duke Hansen

         The spirit of God is very real to those who find it. It's very hard to explain or recount experiences with the spirit. When we see God move, as in last Sunday, and watch God act in our life, it should be beyond hard to return from what you were before. You leave enough doors open to the enemy for him not to work hard. The reason being is we are so entangled in the world, whether or not we realize it. Feelings are deceitful, the word of God is not.

        In the book of Joshua there's a pretty famous verse in the 1st channel. Let's read verse 9.

        9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

        God will bless you wherever you go and will be with you in most places. You don't have a formula to carry blessings.

        We get a word from God, take out after it and then life happens. Opposition occurs in your walk. To "be strong" is to stay focused on your walk, deflect the negativity that is around you. Strength is you are going to have to handle the load you have been given.

        Joshua was dealing with opposition and challenges early in his book. Opposition is ever present in all of our life. Courage should have been enough, but God adds, "be not afraid" and "be not dismayed".

        This morning's scripture will be from Psalm 91. We are going to read beginning in verse 1.

        He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

        What is the secret place? It's your prayer room? Where's your prayer room? It can be a physical space, but it's wherever you are at. It isn't limited to whatever spot you have.

        2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

        We are trying to line up our walk towards God and show our trust in him. You have to be aware of what you are surrounded.

        For God to be our refuge is for us to go to him in all things.

        3 Surely, he shall deliver thee front the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

        4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

        We may not like the season, but we are not supposed to be discouraged. "Surely he shall deliver thee." Are you sure he will deliver you? You may not realize how much God loved you nor wants you to live in discouragement. Know you don't have to go deep in the well of discouragement. Be like David and hope the conclusion may differ than the outcome.

        Discouragement can be seen as jealousy or revenge to others. The feathers of God are camouflage and protection from the enemy. "Under his wings shalt thou trust". With his trust, toss your fear to the side.

        5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.

        If you are strong in the spirit, the enemy will wait for you to sleep. Stop making the devil a god in your life. The truth, the word of God, is a shield for you. Use that shield to protect yourself. The buckler holds it all together.

        Some of you are carrying the weight of your life before your conversion. There's no way you should accept discouragement if you seek the refuge and hope that is Jesus.

        6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

        7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

        Don't fight your battles alone, call out for help. Help in numbers will always defeat discouragement. Let's go the book of Isaiah. We will be in chapter 41 and read verses 13 and 14.

        13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

        14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

        Throughout the Bible, God repeats to his people. I will help you. You have to have something that binds you to the old path. We are now going to 2 Corinthians 4 and begin reading with verse 1.

        Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.

        The power, the holy ghost, the wisdom is tied to mercy. We get trapped in the wilderness of the why's when we don't have help.

        2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

        3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

        How many times the phrase, "do not be afraid" is in the bible? Literally hundreds. The repetitions are in there for a reason. These verses are the definition of mercy. When you break, God wants you to do on him. In your secret place in humility.

        4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

        5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

        6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

        We have this mercy that is for us.

        7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

        8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

        9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

       10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

        You can be troubled and not distressed. You don't have to wear the worry or discouragement. You won't get anything from God without giving something to him. We don't like verse 10. That's a hard verse for our flesh to really contend with. It all comes to the choice in what we do and accept in our walk. When you fast, it's for you. Make it a part of your regiment. 

        God knows it's hard but some of us are blind to it being spiritual babies in our walks. You either have hope in Jesus or not. What is the will of God in your life? It's to help you. Don't be down nor discouraged. If there's an ounce of hope, I want it!